{"id":9249,"date":"2023-04-19T20:58:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T20:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/?page_id=9249"},"modified":"2023-06-19T20:55:17","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T20:55:17","slug":"james-littleton-oral-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/james-littleton-oral-history\/","title":{"rendered":"James Littleton Oral History"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][divider line_type=”No Line”][vc_column_text]\n

James Littleton, Jr. Oral History<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line”][page_submenu alignment=”center” sticky=”true” bg_color=”#008542″ link_color=”#ffffff”][page_link link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/manuscripts-and-guides\/” title=”Manuscripts & Subject Guides<\/strong>” id=”1681937745691-9″ tab_id=”1681937745691-7″] [\/page_link][page_link link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/guides-to-the-collection-page\/” title=”Collections Portal<\/strong>” id=”1681937745700-8″ tab_id=”1681937745701-9″] [\/page_link][page_link title=”Visit<\/strong>” id=”1681937753988-5″ tab_id=”1681937753988-7″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/visit\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”Make a Request<\/strong>” id=”1681937754694-9″ tab_id=”1681937754695-8″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/requests\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”About Us<\/strong>” id=”1681937755368-3″ tab_id=”1681937755369-3″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments-archives-museum-about-us\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”Yearbooks Online<\/strong>” id=”1681937756527-1″ tab_id=”1681937756528-8″ link_url=” https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/yearbooks-alumni-magazines-delta-state-histories\/”][\/page_link][\/page_submenu][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Delta Black Farmer Oral History<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Littleton, Jr. \u00a0OH# 369<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interviewed by Eleanor Green January 19, 2007<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today is January 19, 2007.\u00a0 I am Eleanor Green and I am here with James Littleton for the Delta Black Farmers Project.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay, can you tell me your full name?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James Littleton, Jr.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And when were you born?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5\/29\/46.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Were you born here, or where were you born?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yazoo County.\u00a0 Benton, Mississippi.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Benton, Mississippi.\u00a0 Were your parents farmers?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What were their names?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 James and Dorothy Littleton.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s the Jr.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019 s right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What kind of things did they farm?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Basically soybeans and cotton and vegetable farming \u2013 produce.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did you have siblings on the farm?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I had \u2013 I am the oldest of ten brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are you the only one that went into farming or have any \u2013<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The only one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The only one out of ten.\u00a0 What kind of things did you do on the farm growing up?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Basically herded cattle, milked cow.\u00a0 In those days you didn\u2019t have tractors for a lot of years and so you plowed mules and manual labor, chopped cotton and picked cotton by hand.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How much cotton could you pick at one time?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A couple of hundred pounds a day.\u00a0 (inaudible)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How much land did your family have?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In those days, they were basically a small farmer, fifty to sixty acres.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did they own or rent the land?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Basically they rented it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did your family always rent the land?\u00a0 I mean, how did they come to be farmers?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most of it they worked \u2013 back in those days they had large plantation systems and they basically rented from the system.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 And that was in Yazoo County?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes Yazoo County.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Benton, Mississippi.\u00a0 Is that land still being farmed do you know?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is still being farmed.\u00a0 But it is basically much larger plots, larger operations.\u00a0 The smaller individual farmers have been (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And how much land do you have here \u2013 where are we exactly?\u00a0 Out from Mound Bayou.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We are just west of Winstonville.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How much land do you farm here?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I farm about eleven hundred acres of rented property and (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So you own some of it and you rent some of it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have two plots that we own and (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And so your son farms with you?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s a (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s nice.\u00a0 What kinds of things do ya\u2019ll grow?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cotton and soybeans\u00a0 We mainly grow cotton and soybeans and wheat.<\/p>\n

(Inaudible)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you know the history of this land here?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In terms of productivity, it is probably some of the better farmland in the Mississippi Delta – in the Mississippi area.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you know if this farm was ever used for sharecropping or tenant farming?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not in recent years.\u00a0 Several years ago some of the land was (inaudible) that my wife\u2019s grandfather may have sharecropped.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How has technology changed what you produce and what you have produced over time?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Basically it has \u2013 technology has allowed to farm a much wider range of property in terms of chemicals and seeds and how they are technically resistant to certain diseases.\u00a0 In particular the cotton industry lets you plant more cotton.\u00a0 It is expensive but at the same time it cuts down on – the most revolutionary change that I have witnessed is that you need less labor.\u00a0 I currently employ two full time workers: tractor drivers and machine drivers (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How did you end up here?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My wife – this is her family home.\u00a0 The land belonged to her parents were getting old so we decided to move back here in 1984.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did you farm there before you moved here?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes I did.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So has farming been your only career?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No I \u2013 until recently I retired.\u00a0 I just got into it full time.\u00a0 I became the full time manager.\u00a0 In previous years was on a part time basis where I had other people working and managing it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What did you do before you retired?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I beg your pardon?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What did you do before you retired?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I taught school for thirty-two years.\u00a0 Public school (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I haven\u2019t met a farmer yet that just farmed.\u00a0 Where or how do you sell your cotton and soybeans?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My cotton is marketed through cotton buyers \u2013 mainly large cotton buyers in places like Greenwood.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you have to take it there or do they come and pick it up from you?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, the cotton is picked up out in the fields in terms of module bales, which contains fourteen or fifteen bales.\u00a0 The gin company picks it up with a truck and it is ginned and is then transferred to Staplecotton Association.\u00a0 That\u2019s the warehouse for this area.\u00a0 And it remains there for a fee until you decide what you are going to do with it.\u00a0 At that time you pay the fee off and you settle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How you sell your cotton changed over the years?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well you have to watch the market and it has brought me more attentive to the market because at times the market is at less rates and we have to be able to find when the market is peaked in order to be able to book your cotton or your crops.\u00a0 To try to get it at a high price.\u00a0 Because like at harvesting system the market may come down so you tend to have to be very attentive to the market situation, and realize what you have to have out of the crop in order to get a fairly decent price that you can (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are there any original buildings on the land?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Most of them have been torn down.\u00a0 We have one house that was built back in the mid \u201860\u2019s.\u00a0 This house on this property was built in \u201988.\u00a0 Most of the rest have been torn down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did the family build their own structures do you know here?\u00a0 Did ya\u2019ll build them yourselves or did someone else \u2013 in \u201988 when you had some construction?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I had a contractor to build this house and so the one down there but I\u2019m sure (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What would you say is the value of the land to your family?\u00a0 Not like the monetary but what it means to your family to be on the land?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a dream come true.\u00a0 It\u2019s a land that we would never be interested in selling.\u00a0 It has remained in the family down through generations, the grandchildren.\u00a0 We have stipulations \u2013 it is just passed down.\u00a0 It\u2019s never to be sold.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So you don\u2019t see a time when the family would ever not have the land?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Has the family utilized any federal programs, such as FSA, USDA, or other programs over the years to keep the farm, and to keep it running, and the programs where you put it back into wildlife for a while or that kind of thing?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did the civil rights movement and the years that followed affect the atmosphere on your farm or in your community?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I think in my experience in the 1970\u2019s and through the \u201880\u2019s in terms of minorities and the atmosphere of where (inaudible) and (inaudible) operation.\u00a0 In 1996 the federal government was sued by black farmers because of past discrimination and settlements were made but I don\u2019t think the atmosphere has basically changed in terms of minority (inaudible) and funded by the federal government (inaudible).\u00a0 It changed that for awhile.\u00a0 Right now they focus on (inaudible).\u00a0 I think in order (inaudible) in past discrimination (inaudible) needs to be reconstructed so that the minorities (inaudible) and past histories of discrimination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is this the year they are rewriting it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2007.\u00a0 (Inaudible) right now they have talked about extending it but (inaudible).\u00a0 I think some of those things \u2013 farm bill is still for large operations.\u00a0 (Inaudible) presently constructed small individual operated farms are on the way out.\u00a0 Because the programs are geared now toward large operations which tend to (inaudible).\u00a0 And that\u2019s all over the United States.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This morning on (inaudible) a story about a dairy farmer in Walthall County.\u00a0 They said that in 1980 there were 300 and in 1990 there were about 105 and now they have 30.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the gradual death of the small individual farmers.\u00a0 They are gradually being (inaudible) and unless we get programs to help keep these small individual farmers (inaudible) I see in a few years where most of them (inaudible).\u00a0 That\u2019s the trend (inaudible).<\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I understand that there is some effort to rework the farm bill to include more of the small farmers but I\u2019m not sure how much.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There has been talk but it is going to be interesting.\u00a0 (inaudible) farm bill only large farmers.\u00a0 10% – 90% of the subsidies go to large farmers.\u00a0 And the small farmers are only getting about 10%.\u00a0 And that is (inaudible).\u00a0 That the larger farmers are getting the bulk of the federal subsidies.\u00a0 Even the President of the United States said he would like to see an even playing field in terms of appropriations and in these subsidies everyone could get their fair share.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some of the other farmers that were interviewed that mentioned, – you may not know this is you weren\u2019t here, that during the height of the civil rights movement people would pass through needing a safe place to stay would stay on farms to do different activities with voter registration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 That did happen here in this area and also in my area, so I\u2019m aware of all the things that occurred.\u00a0 The most particular travel in this immediate area is because of the fact that it is predominantly black and they felt this was a safe haven.\u00a0 And many of them probably stayed you know and they probably moved here after they saw it and wanted a safe haven.\u00a0 Back in the civil rights era this little area that they came (inaudible) and wanted to come in and not be bothered with (inaudible) space and that\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So you do think that probably played an important role in the moving of the civil rights movement on the different farms.\u00a0 As a whole.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I think as a whole maybe so.\u00a0 But they situation \u2013 the trend has been of late and if you go back and look at the history, back in the civil rights era you had blacks that had a large area of farm land around the Mound Bayou region.\u00a0 Today most of that land has been eliminated into the hands of larger farmers, mainly whites who have purchased it.\u00a0 The trend has been that they have purchased the land up so we really, I think is in a declining movement in terms of black land ownership in this area.\u00a0 What has happened maybe the children of these generations have moved away and they tend to either forget it or they tend to sell it for little or nothing because they don\u2019t want to be bothered with it.\u00a0 They have moved to the northern areas and you know and it is not a where you have a generation of children staying around this area so this is why it has been a large percentage of land lost from black ownership in this area.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There has probably been a lot lost to unfair treatment (inaudible) loans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, USDA played their role to a great extent where back in the 1970\u2019s and \u201880\u2019s, and I experienced this in my time, they just refused to give us equal playing field and made blacks delay so badly that your crop would need to be planted at a certain time and you didn\u2019t get your loan until June or July, so in essence, they were putting you out of business anyway.\u00a0 So those were some things that need to \u2013 USDA played their fair role of these things, and we certainly don\u2019t want to return to (inaudible).\u00a0 There\u2019s things that are going on now that needs to be corrected.\u00a0 Until they are corrected then you are going to see a continuous trend of eliminating the rest of the black farmers.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see (inaudible).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Small farmers as a whole are suffering as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well that is correct.\u00a0 But when we have problems in the agricultural industry, we tend to be the first to be hit by it.\u00a0 That is the problem.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What would you say is the most memorable event growing up on the farm?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well my most memorable moment was the fact that when I grew up, I grew up early farming and certain chores that I had to do.\u00a0 Because I was the oldest, number one, and I often tell people that I have been working a long time.\u00a0 I remember back in the mid \u201850\u2019s we, my father would have to in order to support the family, he would gather the crop and he would tend to have to go to Louisiana and work on the sugar cane farm.\u00a0 That was to supplement the family income.\u00a0 And I was about eight years old, I was a small child.\u00a0 And we, my brother and I, who was about two years younger, would have to get up at five o\u2019clock in the morning and milk two cows and then bring the milk back home and then we would have to go to school.\u00a0 And I look at people and the kids today and I look at myself and I say \u201cThere\u2019s no way they would be here, they probably wouldn\u2019t have made it; it would have been cold.\u201d\u00a0 But a morning like this it wouldn\u2019t have made any difference.\u00a0 The work had to be done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Cows need to be milked no matter what the weather is.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We would get them up in the afternoon and the morning time we would milk them and bring them back out. You know.\u00a0 People in the community said they had never seen two young fellows do the work that we did.\u00a0 In those days we had to cut wood and get wood to the house and do all that.\u00a0 Say I was eight or nine years old, ten at best.\u00a0 So I don\u2019t see how.\u00a0 So it was a very memorable<\/p>\n

things that I had to do coming up in order to survive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What did you teach when you taught school?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I taught various subjects.\u00a0 I got a BS in elementary education and received a masters\u2019 degree in elementary education administration supervision and I went on to complete 30 hours above a masters degree in elementary education.\u00a0 So mainly I taught at the elementary level.\u00a0 My dream was basically to be an administrator.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until the latter years that I got the experience to deal in administration.\u00a0 I taught science and social studies.\u00a0 Social Studies was my most favorite subject.\u00a0 I love history and I loved teaching it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Me too.\u00a0 Where did you go to school for your BS and your masters?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well I got my BS at Mississippi Valley State and I received my masters\u2019 degree in administration specialist in Jackson.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s the end of the official questions, but if you have anything else you want to add or if you have any questions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, I just like to say thank you for coming and interviewing me and allowing me to express my views.\u00a0 I thank you.\u00a0 As far as the farming industry, I currently serve as a minority on the Farm Service Agency.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have a complete voting on that but I am there to see that hopefully that we do get our people planned around and service and things.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is that for Bolivar County.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bolivar County.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was at a meeting this summer with USDA at your partners\u2019 meeting and the USDA meeting with small farmers.\u00a0 This is the third time this has happened.\u00a0 There were a lot of folks from Mississippi (inaudible). It is the community based, you know, small farmers and USDA and community based people bringing their own people and taking their own notes so that they have their own records.\u00a0 And I was there for that, and it seems to me their folks are getting louder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It has to, because if they don\u2019t, because as I said earlier, we\u2019re all on the way out.\u00a0 There would be non-existent within the next (inaudible).\u00a0 If we don\u2019t get some programs to change this.\u00a0 Because we are working on years of catching up.\u00a0 And it\u2019s going to be – and to give you a prime example, this has been a dry year.\u00a0 Many larger farmers over the last years people have been able to level their lands, they have been able to dig wells, to irrigate their crops, and because of passing out of certain government programs that should have been done, it comes back to smaller farmers in years like this, we have had a tremendous drought and it is due to lack of rain.\u00a0 So basically because of this, as I said earlier, the smaller farmers is the first one it hurts simply because they don\u2019t have the resources in order to survive in years like this.\u00a0 So I think in order to change this thing around, we need to be put on a even playing field.<\/p>\n

And those programs were available to level land and get the land resources, we didn\u2019t know about it or either we were denied.\u00a0 Much of this land has been leveled and they are able to irrigate it and they are able to get a good price, you understand.\u00a0 But they were not receptive of some of the programs that they saw back in the early years to prepare us for these type years.\u00a0 So the results we are now beginning to see some of the past discriminations are still being handed down to us.\u00a0 Until this is addressed and put on an equal playing field then \u2013 it has been addressed but now whether these things will be corrected is the problem.\u00a0 We have addressed a lot of issues, but the problem now is will they be corrected you understand.\u00a0 And I have had personal experience over the years with.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve been dealing with this the last thirty years then you have a lot of personal experience in dealing with it.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why a lot of white farmers (inaudible)\u00a0 \u2013 some of them were denied.\u00a0 Some of them were denied and I don\u2019t personally think that was handled properly.\u00a0 Because there were people who were denied who really deserved some compensation \u2013 which wasn\u2019t very much, not in the year 2000.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One person said he would have been happier if he had just gotten the loan in the first place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He would have been better off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He probably would have done more with it than $50.000 cause this day and time, we are talking about thousands and thousands of dollars in operation to run a size operation \u2013 even my size.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve got the machinery and stuff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Machinery \u2013 the cost (inaudible) and chemicals.\u00a0 Technology has changed and made it easier for the farmer, but it also makes it more expensive for you to operate.\u00a0 So consequently you have more money in it and you hope you are better off with the cost of machinery and things.\u00a0 And the problem is we are pretty well in terms of price wise, we are getting the same price for our products which makes it so bad.\u00a0 In other cotton this year, you look at the price of it today, and it is in the same range that it was in the 1950\u2019s.\u00a0 So in essence, how in the world can you pay – get that price when in terms of operation, you are paying 2007 prices in terms of the chemicals and machinery.\u00a0 So I think the biggest problem is we need, not so much government subsidy, but you have to have the subsidy because of the small, I mean, the price differential, what you\u2019re getting for your product.\u00a0 So if they take that away, then in actuality they are taking your farm away and making it impossible for you to farm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you think all the farmers in this area, once their cotton is picked and at the place, do they all get a pretty good place for their cotton, I mean, compared to each other.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, yeah, because the prices being as they are, you have one choice and that is to put it into government loans.\u00a0 The price is never going up which is standard you know.\u00a0 So price wise, it is not set by local buyers, it is set by what\u2019s the national trend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I see.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So we have no say-so over these prices.\u00a0 For example, corn (inaudible) corn is at a high price now.\u00a0 A few people will be able to grow corn because for one thing, it needs irrigation you see.\u00a0 And if you are not prepared you cannot really take advantage of certain crops you know.\u00a0 Cotton is a dry land type crop.\u00a0 You can probably grow cotton and hope you get rain.\u00a0 But corn, very few people will be able to take advantages of the high prices.\u00a0 Right now there is a tremendous increase in grain.\u00a0 Hopefully and I say events pretty well control the market.\u00a0 Cotton probably will go up eventually and this is the hopes of many cotton farmers that they will get a better price come next year as a result of a lot of this land being put into grain.\u00a0 One crop tends to affect the price of another.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How do our soybeans \u2013 do they do pretty well these days?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Soybeans just need rain, particularly this dry land.\u00a0 But soybeans, there has been a tremendous jump in soybeans in the past few months.\u00a0 Grain seems to be the way these things are going to be going.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of the newest forms of soybeans, well it\u2019s not really a new form, but new in popularity, so the edible (inaudible), you know you just eat it out of the pod.\u00a0 My kid loves them.\u00a0 That\u2019s her favorite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t raised any but I heard about it you know.\u00a0 Course I guess one of the biggest things is that you will be able to find new uses for soybeans.\u00a0 And as technology develops new means of consuming these products, what has happened to corn and the ethanol plants, then that will help a whole lot.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So I think the future in this is the process of producing grain, rather than cotton I think.\u00a0 Cotton unless if China doesn\u2019t affect this market then \u2013 a few years ago we had a pretty good market because of the situation with China.\u00a0 China had large productions then (inaudible) increase in American markets.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So you are going to have to watch not only the American market but the other markets.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a world situation that affects what we do you know, particularly in the cotton industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I meant to ask you, do you have any animals?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh yeah, the co-op, the sweep potato co-op in Mound Bayou, were you associated with that?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At one time.\u00a0 I was one of the early organizers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can you tell me how it started?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, basically it started with a group of farmers.\u00a0 And the idea at the time was when we first started, we started off with a small (inaudible)\u00a0 and really because we didn\u2019t get any early help with USDA or other people or the entities to help this get off the ground, then it never to me really got off the way we projected it.\u00a0 $75,000 that a group of us borrowed and is still being paid off wasn\u2019t enough to even get started.\u00a0 And the first year that I grew sweet potatoes one year was that we were unable, and I guess one of the things that hasn\u2019t been successful is the fact that we have not been able to establish a market.\u00a0 It would have been a success story if we had a market to market these products.\u00a0 So the first year we were caught with the problem of no storage space and we had fairly decent potatoes but had no storage space and no market.\u00a0 Certain promises were made but not carried out after the potatoes were harvested and sold.\u00a0 There have been a few who have kept this going.\u00a0 And I really feel admiration and hopefully that one day it will be a success story.\u00a0 But right now we need to establish a concrete market.\u00a0 Those areas in the state where large potato growers are (inaudible) are more or less control this market, and they are not likely to, unless we see some new markets, then I see this as a struggle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I met someone from Indianola who said they buy their sweet potatoes from someone in Louisiana and they\u2019d love to buy them from Mississippi, but they have to be dried to use them in their product.\u00a0 So it would seem like if you had a way to dry them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, if you had the necessary equipment.\u00a0 It is a great deal of money, a one-time money thing to get into sweet potatoes.\u00a0 What I mean by that is the equipment to process them and get them ready for market.\u00a0 Now once those things which we failed to address when we started this idea and it has been a continuous struggle.\u00a0 If those things had been addressed and we had gotten the funding then I think this area would have been very much a success story.<\/p>\n

And you would have had rural people in the process of growing.\u00a0 It is a easy crop to grow.\u00a0 It is more in terms of dollars and cents in terms of what you put in and what you get out of it.\u00a0 But the problem is that it takes one-time monies in order to establish a facility to deal with this in order to get them to the market.\u00a0 And that has been our problem.\u00a0 To get them to the market where people will be able to sell them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When did it begin do you know?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I believe it was 1996.\u00a0 It was \u201996 for sure.\u00a0 It was quite a few farmers but in that particular year the government had not established any type of program to protect in terms of failure and in terms of giving us protection in times of drought.\u00a0 In fact they didn\u2019t establish it until a year or two later.\u00a0 The farmers were paid for you know like (inaudible) sort of like a insurance crop, insurance on produce.\u00a0 But at the time that we first grew them I\u2019m sure a lot of farmers at the very beginning they either didn\u2019t know or wasn\u2019t told that they had to pay a fee of $100.00 in order to be protected by the (inaudible) program.\u00a0 It was established later for certain programs, so now we do have some what of a safety net involved to help in case of bad years to protect the produce growers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We grew sweet potatoes one year and it wasn\u2019t not very hard and we had tons, but the next year a little bug came on them and we had nothing.\u00a0 And we only had like ten 250 foot rows, so\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 If you use the same potatoes over and over sometimes to bed out or they will establish their (inaudible) so that is one of the problems that you run into. \u00a0You have to change your potatoes, you cannot use them over and over to reseed.\u00a0 They have to be changed over a period of time, otherwise you will establish that disease.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is there anybody you would recommend we interview?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In terms of sweet potato growers, Mr. Louis Sanders.\u00a0 And you can get up with him.\u00a0 He\u2019s a long time farmer.\u00a0 Roger Morris, they\u2019ve been long time farmers around in this area.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And almost everyone has mentioned them. Maybe when we have\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those are the people that I know have been in this area for awhile.\u00a0 They probably have been farming full time longer than I have.\u00a0 I just recently started full time farming after you know large acreage after I retired.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s what my husband would love to do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You have to be able to manage it.\u00a0 It is hard and I said I wasn\u2019t going to get into it too large until I was able to be a daily \u2013 manager on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As I said before we started the interview, we are going to have an exhibit at the archives museum on campus, and we are looking for photographs or farm tools or anything that could be loaned to the museum for the exhibit.\u00a0 So if you have any of those that would be\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 I will look around.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EG:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.\u00a0 We appreciate it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tape ends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

END OF DOCUMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":637,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":99,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9249","page","type-page","status-publish"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9250,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9249\/revisions\/9250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}